Tag Archive for: networking

5 Great Ideas For Fun Holiday Party Activities

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Great corporate holiday parties don’t just happen – they are planned!  And, the best way to ensure your guests are having a good time is to plan some holiday party activities that fun and purposeful:

  1. Get people mixing and mingling – Conduct an icebreaker activity to encourage guests to venture past their typical cliques to interact with others.  And spouses, who may not know anyone else at the company holiday party, will thank you for giving them a reason to talk to others.  For example, one of our fun holiday party icebreaker activities finds guests trying to solve a wintry mystery by reading clues that are on guest’s nametags.  If they find all 10 clues and solve them, they’ll reveal where the missing presents are hidden and if they do, they’re placed in a prize drawing to win one of them at the end of the night!party mixer game
    cocktail party games
  2. Entertain guests in a cocktail party setting – Tuck holiday party activities in between the canapés and the cocktails.  For instance, at our Hurry-Up Holiday stations, guests can challenge one another to compete in quick holiday-themed challenges.  Which of the two can sort the Christmas ornaments first?  Which of the two can hook together the most candy canes in the longest string before time runs out?  If they win, they get a raffle ticket for a prize drawing.charity activity party reception
    party reception games
  3. Entertain guests around a dinner table – Sit next to the wrong person at the holiday party and it could be a long meal…Not so if you incorporate holiday party activities that take place before, during or even after the meal! Some of our favorites include a Winter Wonderland Game Show, complete with Holiday Trivia, Jingle Bell Rocks Music Challenge, Santa’s Survey Says and more.  Another is our No Table Unturned event that is like a murder mystery, as an actor introduces clues, but your tablemates are the stars as they work together around their table to solve the clues delivered with each course of the meal. All of these are great holiday networking activities.no table unturned
    corporate holiday party activity
  4. Give out presents – Consider having your guests compete in holiday party activities to win prizes, instead of just giving out raffle tickets.  For instance, in Presents Of Mind, an emcee calls out an ordinary item guests may be wearing or have on them.  The first guests to get those items to the assistants get to come on stage to compete for the chance to open one of the wrapped gifts on stage.  A Let’s Make a Deal element is incorporated as guests deliberate if they’ll go for the small box, the large box, or what’s in the emcee’s pocket!cup stacking party gamedonate presents chairty
  5. Help others – You could just have people bring a gift to the holiday party to donate.  Or, you could step up your game – literally – and have guests participate in holiday party activities that result in donations.  This could be as simple as setting up stations at your holiday party where guests could come by to stuff a bear to donate to a child in need, or paint a festive pot for a poinsettia that is delivered to a nursing home resident.  Or, you could create an organized team event that takes place at dinner tables before or after the meal, such as our Red Wagon Brigade where teams assemble and decorate Radio Flyer wagons and then compete in games to fill them with toys. Learn more about some of our charity team building options.toy donations

Like these ideas? Well we’ve got plenty more! Contact Wildly Different today for your next corporate holiday party.

Get Help With Holiday Party Planning!

Team Building In Any City

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Even though we are based in Orlando, Florida we travel worldwide with our clients. Why? Well, we love to travel, but that’s not the main reason! The primary reason is that as a boutique team building company we want to be a “one stop shop” for our clients and most of them do meetings in a multitude of locations.
Team building in Atlanta

Aeme and Gaby flying high after a great team building event in Atlanta

Here are some of the reasons you should consider using one team building company no matter where your event is being hosted:
  • Consistent results – If you had a great experience, why would you want to “spin the wheel” in the hopes that another company will be just as good? We hear horror stories from some of our clients who have done just that and lived to rue the day.
  • Relationships – We get into a flow with the clients we work with all of the time. They know how we work and what we can handle for them(and what we don’t), which makes their job faster and easier because they understand the roles. But more importantly, we get to know their company’s culture, objectives, likes and dislikes making it a better experience for their attendees. And, we understand how you like to work, meaning no surprises (except for good ones) for you.
  • Creative ideas – When you put out a blanket request for proposal, you never know what you’re going to get back. When we develop relationships with clients, we know what you’ve done already, so we don’t suggest similar events. We also know what your attendees will – and more importantly won’t – respond well to.

Despite all of these positives, some people hire different team building companies in each meeting locale to organize events. Here’s some of the reasons why they do so and why you shouldn’t let them sway you:

  • Price – Yes, it costs us a bit more to produce your team building event when it’s not in Orlando, Florida. But, surprisingly, not by much.. We use local staff and DJs for the remainder of our team. A small price to pay for peace of mind that you’ll be getting a top-notch team building event.
  • The perils of “not being a local” – We’ve done events in hundreds of out-of-state and out-of-country locations, so we know how to do our research. We have equipment and vendor sourcing down to a science, with several trusted partners who have local branches that assist us around the world. And, we always ensure we travel the day before an event – never the same day – so there’s no worries about traffic or missed flights.

Speaking of travel, Jane Schuliger and I took some time out to do an owner’s retreat in Little Corn Island in Nicaragua last week. I’m almost afraid to share news about this because the island truly is a hidden gem and we’d hate for word to get out to too many people! If you’ve ever thought about going – don’t. Just go! You’ll have an amazing time!

 

Wildly Different corporate retreat

Lisa & Jane enjoying the owner’s retreat in Little Corn Island

While we were gone, several of our teammates traveled as well. Aeme and Gaby were running an Escape! program in Atlanta and Mac spent some time in Miami and Denver. Then, I hopped on a plane on Memorial Day to head to New York for client visits. Yes, we’re racking up the frequent flier miles here at Wildly Different!

Team building in Colorado

Mac enjoying some down time from team building in Colorado this week

Using A Professional Team Building Company vs. DIY

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A lot of people ask us why using a professional team building company is better than doing it themselves – it’s not that hard, right?   To answer that question, I need to flashback to when I first started out in this business…

I used to get upset when people said my recreation job was a cakewalk. “They don’t know how hard I work!” I lamented to my boss. To which she wisely replied, “If you’re doing it right, you make it look easy. Just smile and nod when they make comments like that because it’s actually a compliment that you’re doing a great job. And, you’ll never convince them otherwise anyways.”

 

So yes, you can do your own team building event.  But, it won’t be easy.  And, it may be fraught with pitfalls.  Here’s why using a professional team building company like ours is best.  It’s because we know:

 

How to put the spotlight on your objectives.

For instance, when we write content for a Not Your Typical Game Show team building event, you provide us with a mish-mash of content and then we sculpt it into challenges. We’re in the middle of creating charitable game show content right now and the client wants the challenges to spotlight the domestic violence charity benefitting from the event. How long would it take you to come up with 90 minutes of content (that’s 45 different challenges) that drives home the charity’s message, wraps in the donations and is fun for the attendees? Because we do it all of the time, we can easily get in the zone and script the entire show in a day.  So, using a professional team building company saves you time.

Using a professional team building company for a game show

Make others “green” with envy with your custom game show

How to do it at the same price (if not cheaper) than you can yourself without you having to do the work.

Our team building events are not inexpensive. However, you begin to realize how much the event would cost you when you start adding up the cost of:

  • Buying all of the equipment brand new – we have a warehouse of equipment we charge rental rates for at events.
  • Hiring an emcee, event assistants and a DJ – our professionals already work for us and are ready to go. And, they are professionals.  It’s not always easy to find reliable and talented staff in every city you’re hosting an event in. But, we have a network of people who work with us around the world.
  • Vendor materials – we have partnerships with printers, sign companies, iPad rental agencies and more. Because of this, we get discounted rates you get to tap into when you hire us.
  • Shipping and storing all of the event equipment – we have a van and a warehouse where we can hold, prep and bring back all of the items used in your event.
  • Your time – it takes days to plan a great event. Do you really want to add this onto the million other things that are on your plate?

So, using a professional team building company saves you money.

What you can and cannot do.

Want to have teams compete in a culinary competition and then eat what they cook? We know that most venues simply won’t allow it because of food safety laws and because they lose revenue on food and beverage. Something like our Icing on the Cake event where they decorate cakes is still a culinary competition, but the venue won’t get upset because nobody is eating the cakes.  So, using a professional team building company saves you from making a faux pas.

Using a professional team building company is as easy as cake

Using a professional team building company is as easy as…cake!

The potential pitfalls.

For instance, we know what you should and should not do when creating a scavenger hunt. We’ve heard stories of what’s gone awry when teams have been asked to take a picture inside a hospital operating room (that idea flatlined). And, did you know that most shopping malls don’t allow scavenger hunts at their properties? If they’ve asked a troop of Girl Scouts to vacate the premises (true story), trust us they’ll ask your group to do so as well.  So, using a professional team building company saves you from potential embarrassment.

Using a professional team building company shows

When using a professional team building company, it shows in the “look” of the event!

That’s why using a professional team building company makes sense.

And, we hope that you’ll choose us because the three Fs are what makes Wildly Different in particular easy to work with:

  • We’re fast. It gives us heartburn if we don’t get back to our clients immediately! And, we always meet our deadlines.
  • We’re flexible. Need the two-hour event to happen in one? No problem. Want to change a game to incorporate your products, make your CEO an integral part of the event, or incorporate your boss’ pet teacup poodle? Of course we can make that happen!
  • We’re friendly. We believe in creating relationships with our clients, which is why you’ll always work with someone from our core team, not get farmed out to any freelancer who is available.
Using a professional team building company's staff is sweet

Mac & Aeme show off how “sweet” it is to use a professional team building company

Team Building Events Mean Business

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Last week on April 14th we were proud to participate in Global Meetings Industry Day, a day when leaders from across the meetings and events industry united to showcase the real impact the industry has on business, the economy and the community. Our own McKenzie Kaufeld Counts, Manager of Making It Happen, sat on a panel as part of Greater Orlando’s Meeting Professionals International chapter that discussed why meetings matter.

In Person Meetings Builds Relationships

If you’re trying to convince your colleagues that it’s important to hold an in-person meeting or event, Meetings Mean Business provides a great GMID Talking Points document that will help. Our favorites, which echo our sentiments on why you should host in-person team building events as well, include:

  • “Personal relationships are at the core of every business decision and face-to-face meetings provide professionals with that personal interaction, which leads to deeper relationships.” That’s why our networking events are so popular – they encourage people to interact with new people they may have never come into contact with before in a non-threatening way.
networking activities orlando

With a networking activity meeting new people CAN be fun!

  • “When people meet face-to-face, relationships are developed in a way that technology cannot recreate or match.” The only exception is if you can use technology in your team building event to strengthen relationships! For instance, in our iTech Trek events teams use an iPad to work together to explore an area while completing on-iPad challenges.

    iTech Trek

    iTech Trek – connecting people with technology.

  • “Meetings create a shared sense of missions and purpose, foster empathy across organizational lines and create camaraderie that positions an organization for success.” All of this is a key component in a face-to-face team building event like our Make a Scene event. In it, teams’ missions are to create a commercial for their company that shows their purpose (what sets them apart from all others). The camaraderie that’s developed in writing, directing and acting in the commercial strengthens what they need to focus on for success.

    make a scene

    Set up for our Make a Scene event. Teams are ready for their close up…

  • “The ability to sit down one-on-one with colleagues provides for instant collaboration and real-time productivity.” We especially love team building events that inspire people to work together to beat a deadline, such as our Escape program that challenges teams to be the first to solve problems in the form of clues and puzzles to escape a series of rooms they’re held captive in.

    team building escape game

    Can your team “Escape” in 90 minutes?

  • “These events serve as critical education platforms for professionals and are key components for developing advanced skills for workforce training.” And, education delivered in as fun format is more likely to be remembered. Remember Schoolhouse Rock? I never would have remembered the preamble to the Constitution without singing “We the people, in order to form a more perfect union…” That’s why many of our team building events, such as our Not Your Typical Game Show, incorporate our client’s training information – to ensure the information sings in their heads for years to come!Not Your Typical Game Show – not your typical training activity!

Greater Meetings Industry Day also talked about the economic value the meetings and events industry contributes, highlighting these facts from Oxford Economics – 1) companies that invested more in business travel during the economic downturn grew the fastest and 2) every dollar invested in business travel realizes $9.50 in new revenue and produces $2.90 in profits. Good news for us, as we were on the road conducting team building events again this week!   Aeme’s suitcase is getting some wear and tear as she opened the week conducting a Red Wagon Brigade event for 250 people in Las Vegas and will close it in Miami delivering a jewelry-making charitable event to benefit Dress For Success – just doing our part to support the economy!

wildly different vegas

Aeme getting wildly different in Las Vegas